危(あや)うい

あやうい
i-adjective
dangerous, precarious, close call
descriptive
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present危(あや)うい危(あや)うくない
Past危(あや)うかった危(あや)うくなかった
て form危(あや)うくて危(あや)うくなくて
Adverbial危(あや)うく—
Conditional ば危(あや)うければ危(あや)うくなければ
Conditional たら危(あや)うかったら危(あや)うくなかったら
1. dangerous, perilous, precarious
In a state of danger or instability where something bad could easily happen. Describes situations that are on the verge of going wrong.
命(いのち)が危(あや)うい。
One's life is in danger.
あのチームの優勝(ゆうしょう)は危(あや)うい状況(じょうきょう)だ。
That team's chance of winning the championship is in a precarious state.
橋(はし)は崩壊(ほうかい)の危機(きき)にあり、通行(つうこう)は危(あや)うい。
The bridge is at risk of collapse and crossing it is dangerous.
2. narrowly, barely (with く)
In the adverbial form 危(あや)うく, means 'nearly' or 'almost' — typically describing a narrow escape from something bad.
危(あや)うく転(ころ)ぶところだった。
I almost fell down.
危(あや)うく電車(でんしゃ)に乗(の)り遅(おく)れるところだった。
I almost missed the train.
危(あや)うく大事故(だいじこ)になるところを、運転手(うんてんしゅ)の判断(はんだん)で回避(かいひ)できた。
What could have nearly become a major accident was averted thanks to the driver's judgment.

More literary and formal than 危(あぶ)ない. The adjective form 危(あや)うい is used predicatively to describe precarious situations. The adverbial form 危(あや)うく is extremely common in the pattern 危(あや)うく～ところだった (I almost ~).

Common collocations

Related Words

Synonym: 危(あぶ)ない (dangerous (everyday))
Compare: おぼつかない (uncertain)
Compare: 綱渡(つなわた)り (tightrope walking)
general
Added 2026.2.18 21:22 · Revised 2026.9.4 21:29
11500/11825_ayaui